26o F£/;A'S. 



MooxwoRT — 'The True Ra ptlesnake Fern — Botrychiuvi 

 tcniatum, (Swz.) 



This is a very distinct species from B. J'irgi)iiaini/ii, differing in 

 colour texture and shape of the pinnne and in the general outline of 

 the plant. The thick dark-green colour and fleshy consistency of the 

 frond, with the blunt eared or lobed form of the pinnules, the thicker mid- 

 ribs of the sterile, divided frond, and tall fruit-bearing portion, two to 

 four pinnate, presents a very different aspect to that of the above men- 

 tioned fern. The old )ear's frond remains, persistent and evergreen, 

 until the new one makes its appearance, breaking its way through the sod 

 from its enveloping sheath. I found this fern in grassy Pine groves, just 

 appearing above the ground in the month of July, on the banks of the 

 Katchawanook Lake. 



One of the forms of this species was formerly called B. limarioidcs 

 (or lunaria-like) on account of a resemblance it is supposed to bear to 

 B. Liomrio — but it, with several other forms, is now included in the 

 type of the species B. ternatiDii (Swz.) 



I'he light brown fleshy roots of this fern are tough and deeply 

 ringed, whence its name Rattlesnake Fern no doubt has been derived. 



Another very striking form of this species I discovered in the Oaken 

 glades of the Rice Lake Plains ; it differed in some particulars from the 

 above. In height, not exceeding nine inches : the stipe very thick and 

 stout, very smooth, and when wounded emitted a thick juice which gave 

 a white starchy crystal when dry. The last year's leaf remained, 

 sheathing the stem and falling prostrate as soon as the new frond 

 appeared, and began to expand its thick leaflets and forking fertile 

 frond. The colour of the whole plant was of a light yellowish-green ; 

 the sporangia yellow : the spore dust sulphur yellow, shedding 

 abundantly when ripe, which was in the hot month of August. The 

 outline of the fronds was nearly circular ; the fertile frond very little 

 higher than that of the leafy or sterile portion, which is closely sessile 

 to the column-like fleshy scape, and spreads in a fan-like manner. 



As the I'ouse in which I lived was on a sloping bank, above the 

 \alley where ! found my ferns, I had a good opportunity of observing 

 their peculiar !)abits and progress from day to day ; and marking the 

 • difference from those that grew in the Oak brush on the open plain- 

 lands and the plants that grew among the Pine scrub. The soil of the 

 Oak-lands was sandy, or light loam, while that on the banks of the 

 Katchawanook was gravelly ; the difference of soil might account for 

 the difference in the growth and colour of the foliage, the one being of 

 a deep sad green, the other very light, of a yellowish tint ; the one tall, 

 the other very low and stout. I think it was a distinct variety from 



